ESU outsources health center

East Stroudsburg University is outsourcing its student healthcare services. Officials will sign an agreement July 1 for a third party to treat students at a new location off campus.

“There’s actually going to be an area branded, ‘East Stroudsburg University Health Services at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono,’” said Doreen Tobin, ESU vice president for student affairs. “The new health center will provide all the same treatments and services.”

ESU students soon will have access to a dedicated medical staff at the ExpressCARE center, formerly called Pocono Medical Center Immediate Care. The facility is part of the Clementine Abeloff building at 200 East Brown Street, adjacent to the hospital.

“Most students do access the current health center by walking there,” she said. “The new center is probably just as close to Stroud Hall, just in a slightly different direction.”

ESU currently provides care in-house at the Flagler-Metzgar Center on Isabelle Street. The facility opens 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, but closes completely Saturday and Sunday.

“The added benefits are slightly longer hours on weekdays and specific hours on weekends just for students,” Tobin said. “Those students will be seen by a very specific staff at that time, will not be comingled with other.”

Services will transition to the Lehigh Valley Health Network over the summer. ESU students can access the ExpressCARE center effective July 1. Tobin expects regular operations to be up and running when the fall semester starts on August 25, she said.

LVH-Pocono spokesman Brendon Abazio could not be reached at the time of the story.

General health services at ESU are currently covered by a $175 fee, billed to students each semester with tuition. That practice will continue at the new locations.

“Students will access service similar to how they do at ESU now, by showing their ID card,” Tobin said. “Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono has extended that service to other ExpressCARE centers in Monroe County.”

Only the location on East Brown Street will have an area designated specifically for ESU students. Services will be available there from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. Students can also visit during public hours, but will have the same wait times as other patients.

The health center on campus will cease operations Friday. Employees have been notified of the transition, Tobin said.

“We have been working directly with union representatives and the nurses themselves,” she said. “I think it’s okay to say they’re in conversations with the hospital in terms of seeking employment there.”

Nurses at the existing ESU health center are represented by OPEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, the union that represents health staff across the State System of Higher Education. Michael Bodinsky, OPEIU executive director, could not be reached at the time of this story.